Starbucks says it ‘listened’ to customers and brought back Christmas cups

It’s after Halloween, which can only mean one thing: It’s time for Starbucks to release its yearly holiday cup designs.

On Thursday, Starbucks dropped the designs online, announcing four colorful cups and a larger, reusable one available Nov. 2. Starbucks also announced several seasonal drinks, including Peppermint Mocha, Toasted White Chocolate Mocha, Caramel Brulée Latte, Chestnut Praline Latte, Gingerbread Latte and Eggnog Latte.

The cups mark a shift for Starbucks, which has faced an onslaught of controversy based on its cup choices. The chain removed traditional winter and Christmas symbols from its cups in 2015, when it replaced those symbols with a plain red background. The move sparked outrage and threats of a boycott from those who saw the shift as part of an effort to whittle away at Christmas, CNN reported.

“In the past, we have told stories with our holiday cups designs,” Jeffrey Fields of Starbucks said at the time. “This year we wanted to usher in the holidays with a purity of design that welcomes all of our stories.”

But that wasn’t the end of it.

The chain largely avoided controversy in 2016 by featuring designs submitted by its customers, which included winter and Christmas designs.

But in 2017, one of its cups showed two people holding hands. Buzzfeed and others suggested the ambiguous hands belonged to a lesbian couple, prompting another wave of controversy and claims that Starbucks was promoting a “gay agenda.” Starbucks declined to clarify whether the hands actually belonged to a lesbian couple, The New York Times reported.

This year, Starbucks appears to be playing it safe. These cups lean into Christmas again through color and design. Red, white and green are front and center, with holiday ribbon, stars and (coffee) berries displayed on the sides.

“We started (this season) by looking to the past,” Kristy Cameron of Starbucks said in a news release. The company wrote that designers “nipped pieces from Starbucks holidays past.”

It was an intentional move, according to chief operating officer Roz Brewer.

“We listened to our customers,” she said in a statement, Time reported. “They said they ‘loved the tradition of Christmas.’”

This story was originally published November 1, 2018 at 12:20 PM.